Parliament
Medicaid Fraud Dogg
(C Kunspyruhzy Records Inc.)
4/5
Yes, that’s right: Parliament has just released the follow-up to their 1980 LP, Trombipulation. The legendary funk band’s 10th album, Medicaid Fraud Dogg, is a larger-than-life production that holds up with Parliament’s concept albums of the ’70s.
Band mastermind George Clinton never ceases to amaze and inspire. With 23 tracks that fall just short of two hours, Clinton expresses his opinions about American pharmaceutical and insurance companies on Medicaid Fraud Dogg. P-Funk mythology is present throughout, as seen on the previously released single, “I’m Gon Make You Sick O’Me,” where Clinton sings in the character of Dr. Feelgood, who offers both the ailment and the antidote.
This is one of the most entertaining albums, of any genre, to be released in years. As expected, Medicaid Fraud Dogg is loaded from start to finish with fat basslines, horns, comedy, politics, theatrics, and pretty much everything that made Parliament great. But there is also something different: musically, Clinton’s influence has come full circle, and the hip hop artists who made Parliament one of the most sampled bands of all time have left their fingerprints all over this record.